Evangeline+McKenna


 * SUMMARY: Evangeline McKenna, age 38, died January 28, 1974 after an abortion performed at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, CA.**

Evangeline L. Davis McKenna, a Louisiana native, was 38 years old when she checked into Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles for an abortion and tubal ligation.

Two days after the procedure, she had a seizure. She stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest.

Doctors told the family that Evanegline was brain dead, but they held out hope and asked that she be put on life support.

On January 28, 1974, after twelve days on life support, Evangeline was pronounced dead. She left behind five children.

Evangeline's death, in addition to being a tragedy for her family and loved ones, also highlights the disproportionate damage that legal abortion causes among Blacks in the United States.

Though black women are only 13% of the female population in the US, and though they are more likely than white women to oppose abortion, they account for a full 35% of legal abortions reported. Black women, like Evangeline, also account for fully 50% of reported legal abortion deaths.

As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn't supported by the data.



Sources: California Certificate of Death # 74-019095; Los Angeles County (CA) Autopsy Report # 74-1350

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